


A Sheep In Dex's Flannel

by Denois



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Animal Attack, Animal Transformation, M/M, Minor Injury to Major Character, Soulmate AU, animal injury, sheep!Dex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-09-19 22:07:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 18,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17010108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denois/pseuds/Denois
Summary: Nursey had been imagining kissing Dex for two years and after the party to celebrate the Falcs Stanley Cup victory, he sees his chance and he takes it. What he doesn't expect is for Dex to be his soulmate. Now he's got to keep his d-line partner safe as a sheep in the city for a month, or until he can figure out the meaning of all this and what Dex really needs, whichever comes first.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The usual blame/thanks to B_Frizzy, Lukutoukka, and Theo. Beta readers, enablers, friends.

The celly was over. The presser was over. Everyone was hungover. It was time for the fallout. Dex surveyed the apartment and it reminded him of the aftermath of storms.

Not the mess, though the mess was significant, but the emotional tide. Bitty was cooking and baking nonstop, and Dex thought he must have been through the aftermath of storms before as well.

Then Dex grabbed a trash bag and stopped thinking, losing himself in the repetition of cleaning while his mind processed the emotions of the Falcs winning, Bitty and Jack kissing, everything that had occurred in the past few months really. 

He and Nursey had fallen back into their same friend-like state after the dibs debacle, just like they had after all their more serious arguments. Nursey was still insisting that he would move out by September but Dex knew he couldn’t afford to let that happen. So far, his pride had kept him from asking Bitty if he could frame out a room in the basement, but the summer was still young. He could always ask when they got back to school. When Bitty wasn’t dealing with his own storm.

So, Dex cleaned the apartment, returned Bitty’s dead phone, served up plates of brunch and pie, while everyone else sat and dealt with themselves. A part of him was bitter, that everyone else could expect to just seek comfort and focus on dealing with the internal fallout, to not be expected to be the ones carrying on and getting the work done. An even smaller part of him suspected that some of them just hadn’t considered that someone would actually need to do the physical clean up. But these parts were much smaller and much quieter than they had been and were easy to ignore.

When Dex saw Bitty and Jack disappear into their room, he knew that the last walls were going to be breaking. He was almost done with cleanup, just needed to take the numerous trash bags to the garbage chute, and his skin itched to go sit among his teammates, his friends, and soak in the comfort of being part of a group. But as his eyes scanned over those still in the living room, there was no place for him, so he turned to the balcony and the meager comfort of fresh air and sunlight. 

It was enough, had always been enough. His hands clenched around the railing and he closed his eyes. 

“Trying to get away from us, Poindexter?”

Nursey’s voice behind him was surprising, but Dex just shrugged in response. When Nursey joined him at the railing and bumped shoulders with him, he finally opened his eyes.

“You aren’t getting rid of us that easy.”

“Pretty sure you’re the one with plans on how to get rid of me, Nurse.” Dex’s eyes flicked to Nursey and away. Somehow, he still couldn’t stop himself from wanting to look, from wanting. 

It was a familiar ache, and one he was good at repressing. But combined with the emotions of the past 24 hours, it must have knocked him off balance. Because the next thing he knew, Nursey had turned to him, hand on Dex’s cheek, pulling him closer.

“Thought you knew that was just so you’d want to fight to stay.” The words were murmured soft and low, barely words at all, just before Nursey’s lips brushed his. 

Then the world twisted and Dex snorted at the unfairness of it all before head butting Nursey to make sure he knew it was his fault.

~*~

Nursey had not planned on kissing Dex. He’d thought about it, sure. He’d thought about it kind of a lot. Often as a prelude to thinking about doing other things with Dex. But he had not intended to kiss Dex at this time. Or at any time until he was completely certain that the response would not be him getting punched by Dex. 

But Nursey was, as the kids say, a sap and a romantic. And he was still riding the high of his friend winning the Stanley Cup, and his friends kissing on national live tv, and partying with an entire Stanley Cup winning NHL team. And Dex had spent the day being fucking strong and domestic, cleaning up and bringing out brunch and pie, and it was just a lot for one person to handle when they were already emotionally compromised as a base state of existence.

When Dex slipped out to the balcony, Nursey followed. 

“Trying to get away from us, Poindexter?” Nursey knew that he had slipped into his flirting voice. Like usual.

Dex just shrugged it off. Like usual.

Nursey was undeterred. He joined Dex at the railing and knocked into his shoulder. “You aren’t getting rid of us that easy.”

“Pretty sure you’re the one with plans on how to get rid of me.” 

For the first time, Nursey felt himself stumble. For the first time in months, it occurred to him that the man who had never wanted anything that could be gotten easily, without a fight, might not have recognized the gauntlet that he’d thrown down for what it was.

He didn’t even think before he reached out and turned Dex’s face towards him, leaning in. “Thought you knew that was just so you’d want to fight to stay.” And he finally lived all his fantasies and kissed William Poindexter. 

Then the world twisted and he heard a snort before he was head butted in the gut by an angry sheep. An angry sheep wearing Dex’s blue flannel.


	2. Chapter 2

Nursey remained very calm and did not freak out. 

Which was to say, Nursey slowly sank to the ground and stared at a sheep wearing flannel until the sheep laid down with its head in his lap.

The world did not stop feeling twisty, so after a few minutes, Nursey pulled his phone from his pocket and pulled up his texts.

Me: help  
Me: I turned Dex into a sheep  
Me: a ram? Is sheep gender neutral? Do I need to know these things now?  
Me: I can’t be responsible for a ram! Andover didn’t even offer animal caring classes.

Nursey stared at his phone, but no response popped up. He set it down and tentatively placed a hand on the sheep’s head. “I’m sorry Dex. I’ll figure it out. I promise. I-I’ll make sure I take good care of you. Until you change back. Even-.” Nursey stopped and swallowed. “Even if it’s not til the end of the month.”

Sheep Dex did not look impressed. Didn’t even lift his head. Nursey couldn’t really blame him, but he was sure that Lardo would have the answers just as soon as she texted back. Unfortunately, he was wrong. Mostly.

Lards: Art major, my dude.  
Lards: But there’s probably an app for that.  
Me: Yeah. I’ll try that.  
Me: Don’t tell anyone.  
Lards: Then you might want to get off the open balcony now while everyone is napping.

This is why he reached out to Lardo. She had the best plans. 

“Ok, Dexy. We’re going to get out while everyone is asleep or busy. Then I’m going to…. figure out what to do next.” Nurse patted Dex’s shoulder and hoped he’d stand up so that Nursey could get up. 

Dex just turned his head to look at him.

“Ok, please stop looking at me like that. I have a plan. I do. But I kind of thought you wouldn’t want everyone to see you as a sheep, so…” Nursey nudged Dex’s shoulder. “Also, your eyes are kinda freaking me out. I didn’t know pupils could look like that.” 

Dex responded by turning and nibbling on the hem of Nursey’s pant leg. 

Nurse pulled his leg out from under Dex’s head and stood up. “Ok, just because we’re soulmates doesn’t mean you can eat my clothes. Come on. I’ll figure out what sheep eat and get you some actual food. You’ve been working all day. You’re probably starving.”

Dex stood and followed him into the apartment. They were passing the pile of trash bags when Dex headbutted Nursey in the leg and then stopped. 

“What? Let’s go.” Nursey hissed at Dex, but he refused to budge, turning to look at the trash. “You cleaned everything up, don’t you think it’s fair for everyone else to get it to the garbage chute? You’ve done enough. You can stop working. Just for a little bit.”

Dex turned to look at him again and Nursey was once again struck with how angry a sheep could look. Dex stared at him for several long seconds before turning back to the pile of trash bags. 

“Ok, fine. I’ll help.” Nursey strode over and grabbed a bag before turning back towards the door.

Dex grunted and stomped a hoof. 

Nursey sighed. “You aren’t going to drop this are you?” 

Dex’s response was to head butt Nursey’s leg again. 

“This is worse than when you can yell at me. Fine.” Nursey grabbed another bag. “I’m not taking more than two. Let’s go now.”

He hadn’t even finished talking when he heard Dex trotting over to the door. 

*~*

There was a greenway across from the apartment. Nursey had thought that Jack might have picked the place to have the narrow park path to run along. Whether that was the case or not, it made Nursey lucky because he and Dex could duck into the trees and hang out while Nursey browsed the App Store and downloaded a dozen different soulmate apps. 

He then had to immediately delete ten of them because they were matchmaking apps instead of info apps. But the other two looked promising. One had a checklist of things to consider and suggestions on how to complete the bond and the other had specifics for taking care of various domestic animals that the soulmate transformation could cause, including tracking information about care schedules.

“Ok, so ‘Steps to take after soulmate transformation’. Sounds like the place to start.” Nursey looked up from his phone to see Dex a short way away, eating leaves off a bush. 

“Dex! You don’t know if they use pesticides or something here. Or if a dog has been by recently or who knows what!” Nursey glared at Dex, but Dex just ignored him and kept chewing, much like the last time Nursey had argued about the superiority of organic food over the trash that Dex seemed to survive on.

“Also, I haven’t read the stuff about what sheep eat, so I don’t know if that’s good for you. Do you really want to go off diet plan right outside Jack’s apartment?” Nurse really hoped the appeal to Dex’s reverence for Jack would work. It mostly did. Dex ate a few more leaves, probably just to be contrary, and then walked over to a bench and climbed up to lay down. Nursey decided that was smart and sat down next to him.

“Ok, so first thing I need to do is notify people that you won’t be available for up to the next month. Lucky it’s the summer, no classes or practice missed.” Nursey paused and looked at Dex. He should be happy, if Nursey had kissed him almost any other time, it would have been a huge pain and everyone would have known. Dex snorted at him. 

“But I guess I need to tell your parents you won’t be home. And you work summers right?” He didn’t pause for a response. “Do I need to call your bosses, or would your parents tell them?”

Dex headbutted Nursey’s arm. He was still laying down, so it was more of a nudge, but Nursey knew how Dex meant it. 

“Ok, I’m guessing that means to let your parents handle it? Headbutt for yes, eerie stare for no.” Nursey waited for the following headbutt before continuing. “So, I’ve got your mom’s phone number, do you want me to tell her that you won’t be home because of a soulmate transformation? If yes, do you want me to tell her it’s…. Do you want me to say I’m….” Nursey couldn’t think of how to end the sentence. He rolled his head back and stared at the sky. How did he ask his soulmate, his crush for over a year, if he was ashamed to have people know about him?

Dex headbutted his arm. Then headbutted it again. 

Nursey took a slow, shaky breath. “OK. Ok. Yeah. I’ll just call and let her know and then….” He trailed off, looking at his phone again. “Then we’ll get you a soulmate harness so you won’t get in trouble for wandering around, and some real sheep food. Then we can get a train to the city.” 

Nursey looked up and smirked at Dex. “I told you I’d come up with a plan.” 

And Nursey hadn’t realized that sheep could roll their eyes, but apparently they can if they are Dex. He turned and pretended to cough so that Dex wouldn’t see the smirk morph in to a smile. He switched from the app over to make the call. 

“Mrs. Poindexter? Hi. It’s Nursey, Derek Nurse? Right, I play hockey with William.” Nursey was pretty sure that there wasn’t a way to make this conversation not be awkward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping to get a good amount written over the next few days since I have off from work, but I'm going to try to stick with the Saturday update schedule.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things get a bit tense, but it's going to be ok.

Dex figured there was an 85% chance of him dying before the month was over. To be fair to Nursey, that was about the highest survival rate he was willing to give any living thing in Nursey’s care, including Nursey. At the moment, the fact that Nursey had looked up sheep nutritional needs was being outweighed by the fact that he’d left Dex outside the store, in June, covered in wool, and still wearing his flannel. 

Dex stood by the fact he’d been wearing a flannel. He wasn’t sure if Tater had been given access to the thermostat or if Jack just liked to keep an arctic feel in his apartment, but it had been cold. 

Now though, he was outside in the sweltering heat, with far too many layers. And an empty stomach. He was used to feeling hungry all the time. He was still a teenager, he was a big guy, he was an NCAA athlete who needed a lot of calories. Somehow, with everything going on that morning, he hadn’t managed to eat anything. 

That was nothing to how he felt now. He was painfully aware of the fact he now had more than one stomach and it finally made sense why herbivores were constantly eating. Dex wandered over to a patch of bushes and started eating, using the scant shade they provided to try to cool down a bit at the same time. 

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been standing there, stripping leaves off the bushes, but he realized that he’d let his guard down more than a real herbivore would. More than he ever had before except once. Because there was a rope around his neck and he was being dragged into a trailer. 

Since he’d changed into a sheep, he hadn’t even tried to talk or to make more noise than a grunt. But as he was dragged off, his thoughts jumped to Nursey, his soulmate, who would have no idea where he’d gone or what had happened to him. 

Dex screamed. 

~*~

The feed store took longer than he’d expected. First, because the app seemed to assume that anyone with a soulmate that turned into a livestock animal lived in places where there were actual feed and seed stores. Second because it wasn’t really a feed store. It was a pet store with a small area for soulmate supplies. 

Which was fine. Nursey would just order stuff online when they were back at his place. They just needed enough to get from here to there. 

But damned if Nursey was going to buy utter crap for Dex. So he pulled up reviews and consumer reports of all the harnesses they had, then he looked up nutritional comparisons of the sheep food. He was getting Dex only the best. For once, he could really go all out spoiling Dex and Dex couldn’t get pissed and leave, upset about his frivolity with money. He was going to take advantage of that.

Picking out the best quality halter that they had didn’t take terribly long. But he did go ahead and order an even better one online with next day delivery. Picking out food took longer. He reviewed the information from the app and then used his phone to google more about sheep feed options. The paltry selection at the store limited him to hay and grain mixes, so he started comparing the labels. 

There were three options that didn’t have copper, which he now knew was toxic to sheep, and they had similar TDN numbers. He tried to pull up reviews, but apparently, most people don’t complete their soulmate transformation and then immediately rate the food they ate as an animal. And regular sheep hadn’t caught onto consumer reviews yet. They all seemed to be perfectly fine, based on the rancher reviews. He guessed that good wool production might equate to healthy hair for Dex when he changed back, and good for mutton producers might mean it met with diet plan for muscle building. 

He chewed on his lip as his gaze flicked between them. Finally, he decided to go with a corn mix with cottonseed meal along with the hay that they had. He’d do more research at his house. He could always get something overnighted to make the rest of Dex’s transformation as nice as possible.

The store didn’t have any treats labeled specifically as sheep treats, only goat treats. After reading about the copper, Nursey wasn’t willing to risk it until he did more research, and when he tried to google on his phone all he got were dog treats made of lamb or sheep parts (the opposite of what he wanted, thank you), or ideas for treats to make at home. He’d just have to put that off a day or two. Dex would understand.

Nursey looked over his cart. He hoped that one cube of alfalfa hay and a bag of grain mix would be enough for now. Why couldn’t the app say how much sheep eat?

There was a line because, of course, there was only one register open. Maybe it wasn’t usually that busy that time of day, or maybe corporate had stupid ideas about how to maximize profits. Regardless, it seemed to take forever but was probably only a few minutes. Probably. Shopping is fun, waiting in line? Not so much. 

Eventually, it was his turn to check out and he made it through with little fuss and an extra keychain for getting his soulmate needs from their store. Free swag was free swag, but he wasn’t sure that he really needed it. He was looking at his phone when he exited the store, but he’d left Dex right there, so he knew Dex would probably be headbutting him any moment to ask for the hay or because he was annoyed about the wait.

“Ok Dexy. I’m gonna order an uber to the train and you can snack until it gets here.” 

The sound of a scream down the block caused him to lift his head. The first thing he thought was about how few people ever seem to be concerned about a scream in cities. Then he wondered where Dex was because he wasn’t waiting just outside the store where Nursey’d left him.

Then he heard a bleat from the direction of the scream and he took off running. 

It wasn’t far, less than a block. But it was too far for Nursey to reach the animal control van before they’d locked Dex away and driven off. He’d seen them pushing Dex in, holding him with ropes around his neck, but it was too late.

Later, he would think about how he’d heard Dex yell, shout, raise his voice in any number of ways, but he’d never heard him scream before. At that moment, his blood was turning to ice while he thought of his soulmate screaming for him and how he didn’t make it in time. 

Day one of the soulmate transformation and he’d already failed Dex.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TWs for this chapter, see end notes for details.

There was a small cafe and bakery on the corner with outdoor seating. All Nursey wanted to do was sink into one of the chairs and zone out, but loitering was never a good idea. He took the time to go into the cafe and get a latte and a pain au chocolate.

Every moment that it took for the items to be prepared was another bit further that they were taking Dex. Nursey plastered on a mask of chill until, finally, purchases in hand, he returned to the patio to sit. He couldn’t break down right now, Dex needed him. Dex had screamed for him. Dex was counting on him. 

That was actually not helping. He squeezed his eyes shut. Animal cops are not regular cops. It will be fine. Animal cops almost always help animals. He’d watched Animal Cops Houston with Tango a few months ago and they had always been trying to help the animals. 

What did they do with the animals? They took them somewhere. Usually, they had a holding place for them, but it was a different place for like dogs versus like horses. So he needed to find out where they would take Dex, and then he could go get him. 

“Siri, call animal control.”

“I found one listing for animal control in Providence Rhode Island. Should I call City of Providence Animal Control?”

“Yes.”

“Calling City of Providence Animal Control.” 

Nursey tried a sip of the latte while the phone rang through his Powerbeats. 

“City of Providence Animal Control. Spence speaking.” The voice sounded nice. Polite, chipper even. 

“Hello. My name is Derek Nurse. My soulmate transformed today and while I was in the Plaid and Stripe PetShop on South Angell purchasing a soulmate harness and supplies, one of your officers picked up my soulmate.” He glanced around the outdoor seating patio, but no one else seemed to be paying attention to him.

There was a brief moment while he heard some typing in the background. “Congratulations on your soulmate transformation, sir. As you know, it is federal law that all transformed soulmates must wear a soulmate harness at all times in order to be granted public access. I understand that this was an unexpected transformation and we can definitely reunite you as quickly as possible. What species did your soulmate transform into?”

“He’s a sheep, a ram. He was still wearing a blue flannel that he’d had on at the time of transformation.” It was weird to be trying to stay professional.

The key clicking paused. “A flannel? In June?” 

“We were at a friend’s apartment for a party last night and the thermostat was turned down to accommodate the number of people. I don’t believe it was turned back up after the majority left. It was quite brisk this morning when we woke to help with the cleanup efforts.” Nursey was pretty sure those were all acceptable details. Loads of people had huge parties to celebrate last night, probably. He just wanted her to get on with the process.

“Right.” She didn’t sound like she completely agreed, but she also sounded like she wasn’t going to argue the point. “If you’ll hold the line for a few minutes, I’ll contact the officer that would be dispatched to that area for a status check.”

Nursey picked at his pain au chocolat while hold music played in his ears, peeling layers off the pastry one at a time. He wondered if Dex was trying to eat the clothes of the officer or if that was just something he did to Nursey. 

He hadn’t quite demolished the pastry by the time Spence came back on the line. Apparently, Dex had been picked up and taken to a sheep farm outside of town that helps them out sometimes with livestock animals. He typed the address into his notes app and then pulled up the Uber app while wrapping up the call. 

He had to wait a bit for the driver to show up, so he finished his latte and threw out the ruins of his pain au chocolat. 

“Hey, I’m putting in a return trip to the Amtrak, if that’s chill. But I might need you to wait a bit when we get out to North Scituate. I’ll tip cash if you are willing to wait. Also, uh, we’re gonna be picking up my soulmate, who’s a sheep right now.” Because of course, Dex was out in the middle of nowhere and they were going to have to get back to the city to catch a train. 

“That’s cool. I’ve got a blanket in the back we can stretch over the seat. If you don’t put it in the app that it’s a transformed soulmate pick up, they won’t charge you extra. They don’t give us any extra anyway, so.” The guy checked his mirrors before merging back onto the road.

“Chill.” Nursey made a note to tip even more as he added the return trip on the app.

~*~

Dex wasn’t sure how long or how far they’d driven before he was pulled unceremoniously from the back of the van, but he was sure that he wasn’t happy about it. He was downright pissed when they dragged him into a barn and started talking about getting the flannel off of him. He may have considered testing his horns on them when someone suggested cutting it off, but luckily they managed to get his legs into a position where they were finally able to get it off. 

Then they sheared him. 

It was insulting and rude and he wanted to fight them about it, but they had a lot more experience at being sheep shearers than he had at being a sheep, so it was over in just a few minutes. 

He was much cooler.

They pulled a spandex bodysuit thing on him afterward, but he decided it made sense when he was finally released into a field with a bunch of regular sheep. They all had a little bit of fleece grown back and if he sunburned as easy as a sheep as he did as a human. Well, he didn’t want to be burned all over. 

The sheep ignored him, so he wandered the field a bit. It was full of nice grass and other plants and was rather large. It was nice. It was a nice place. At least if he was stuck out here for the next month, he’d be in the hands of people that knew about sheep. And it would be quiet.

The thing was, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to form the soulbond with Nursey. They’d known each other for two years and he wasn’t sure that Nursey would even figure out the meaning of his transformation to unlock their ability to form it. At least it wasn’t him trying to figure out symbolism and metaphors for whatever Nursey would have turned into. But, he’d wanted to make that decision himself. Not wait out the month on a sheep farm in Rhode Island (was he still in Rhode Island even?) and then suddenly turn back into a guy in the middle of a field. Possibly naked except for a sheep onesie. 

Dex shook his head. He should have read more about the transformation process. He didn’t even know if his clothes would show back up or not. He hoped so. He liked those jeans.

He heard a noise and looked up. He’d managed to wander to the far edges of the field, a bit away from a small group of ewes with lambs. 

The sounds of snarling and barking dogs and of screaming sheep filled the afternoon air. He didn’t even feel the cuts into his right haunch as he launched himself towards the nearest dog that he saw harrying a lamb.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning:  
> Animal attack: Feral dogs attack Dex and some sheep/lambs. This is the last couple of lines only on this chapter. It will be discussed a bit in the next chapter as well.
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks to Lukutoukka and Theo for this chapter. Without Lukutoukka, it might not have happened because I was stuck on if I wanted to write out the rest of the phone conversation or not. And it's Theo's fault that we get another cliffhanger. Something something "I like angst".
> 
> Also, I forgot to note: 
> 
> Plaid & Stripe PetShop is a real store in Providence on South Angell. It is larger in this fic than in our world, and why did Nursey think it was corporate owned last chapter? He’s a bit silly, I guess. But also, he’s got a lot on his mind.
> 
> The cafe & bakery that Nursey stops at is L’Artisan Cafe & Bakery. They don’t have pain au chocolat on their regular menu, so it was probably a special thing that day.   
> Reviews say their lattes are good, but I’m not sure Nursey noticed. Maybe he’ll go back when he’s not so stressed.
> 
> The sheep farm that Dex is staying at is Hopkins Southdowns. Southdowns are generally raised for meat, and based on the farm store and items they show online, that is what Hopkins does. They also show lambs or sponsor kids showing lambs, which is cool. Show goats and show lambs were a big reason this fic idea happened. 
> 
> I know absolutely nothing about any of these places other than what I can find from google maps, google street view and their websites. I do not know if Hopkins Southdowns does or would work with the Providence Animal Control. In a universe where people sometimes turn into animals after kissing their soulmate, they do. But I thought I’d give the locations I was thinking in case anyone wants to follow along on google maps.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings for this chapter. Animal attack, animal injury. See end notes for specifics.
> 
> Sorry this is a bit late, but it's still Saturday somewhere, right?

There was a helpful sign at the side of the main road that advertised “Farm Store” and pointed down a narrow drive. The driver pulled into the small parking area and Nursey got out of the vehicle. He stared at the farm store for a moment, wondering if he should go in there. It’s not like Dex would be in there, but he wasn’t sure where else to look for someone to help him.

Luckily, someone came around the corner of the building from a side road and he didn’t have to try to search them out. “Hello there! Anything I can help you with?”

“Yes. My soulmate transformed into a sheep and got picked up by animal control in Providence. They said they brought him out here?”

“Right, right. He’s out in the fields right now. Figured we’d let him get some grazing in. That’s what they love best. Well, that’s not quite true. They love oats and crack corn best. But they do love them forbs.”

Nursey stared at the man. “Forbs?” 

“Plants that grow in the pasture? Other than grass. Nutritious and they love ‘em. Sheep can spend seven hours a day grazing. You got food for him? Some place to let him pasture?” The man, the farmer Nursey supposed, was standing with his weight back on his heels, thumbs hooked through belt loops and gave Nursey an appraising look. 

“I bought some alfalfa hay and a grain mix at a pet store. I was going to order more to be delivered. I live in NYC, so…” He trailed off. 

The farmer nodded. “Ok, well, best thing you can get is green chop. It’s basically just harvested pasture. Nice salad for him. Hay works if you can’t get that though.” 

Nursey pulled out his phone and opened the notes app to remember to see if he could order some green chop later. “Thanks. Hey, actually, what are some good sheep treats? They only had goat treats at the store and I know they’ve got different requirements and tolerances. But when I tried to google it, well, “sheep treats” brings up a lot of treats for dogs, or recipes to make your own.” 

“Well, like I said. They love grains, and cracked corn especially. We usually give them that to fatten them up a bit before a major show or before they’re ready for processing though. Makes the meat milder.”

Nursey stared at the man in horror. “Ok, that’s not really applicable.”

“Oh, yeah. Sure. Sure. Of course not. I’m just saying. He’ll probably like crack corn or grains, but don’t let him eat too much, and it could bulk him out, or even make him sick.” The farmer looked around. “Well, I guess I can get you his flannel. Do you want his fleece?”

“You took off his flannel? Wait, what do you mean, his fleece?” Nursey shoved his phone back in his pocket.

“We sheared him so he wouldn’t over heat. Come on down to the barn and we’ll get them loaded up for you.”

When they had loaded the flannel and fleece into the back of the vehicle, Nursey grabbed the blanket that the driver had mentioned and started spreading it out over the backseat while the farmer headed off on an atv to find Dex. 

“Thanks for waiting, man. They’re getting him now, so it shouldn’t be too much longer.” Nursey smiled at the driver who looked up from his phone to return the smile in the rearview mirror.

“Yeah, no problem, bro.”

Loud dog barks and a yelp rang out and Nursey jerked up, hitting his head on the door frame. “Ow, fuck.” 

He turned around, rubbing the back of his head while several other people came out of the various farm buildings. Even the driver got out of the vehicle. A couple of the new people ran down one of the roads and then disappeared a few seconds later on other atvs. 

A number of sheep all came running up towards the barns, bleating, and the rest of the people from the farm moved towards them. 

“What the fuck is happening?”

Nursey didn’t get an answer, but he didn’t really expect one either. 

The first farmer returned and paused his atv near the people still around the store and house. “Call Doc Hampe. Tell him it’s a soulmate.” Then he drove off towards the barn. 

Nursey’s heart stuttered when he realized the mass on the back of the atv was a sheep. A sheep wearing some sort of underarmor. An underarmor that was torn and bloody. And that there was blood on the sheep’s head as well. _It’s a soulmate._

“Dex.”

Nursey ran for the second time that day.

*~*

He’d nearly punched one of the men when he’d questioned Nursey being in the barn while they waited on the vet. Luckily, the first man had cut that nonsense out by mentioning that he was Dex’s soulmate. He’d calmed down enough to sit when the farmer had washed off Dex’s face and horns and it became obvious that he wasn’t injured there. But he’d only really breathed easy when the vet arrived and pronounced that Dex was fine. A few stitches to help it heal was all that was needed, along with some bandages and antibiotics. 

Dr. Hampe gave Nursey some care instructions before he left, with some words of advice as well. “Transforming back seems to speed up the healing process. He shouldn’t have any scars. But the sooner he’s human, the better.”

No pressure or anything. 

“Did they get any of your lambs? How’s Bailey?” The vet turned back to the farmers, apparently done with Nursey.

“I didn’t see any that needed attention. Bailey and this guy seem to have kept them off the lambs pretty good. Wouldn’t mind you checking Bailey over. She’s not acting hurt, but you know how LGDs can be. Carl and Jim are making sure the ferals are gone and’ll bring her back up.”

Nursey let the words fade to the back of his mind and rubbed a thumb over Dex’s nose. “You had to play the hero, didn’t you?”

Dex only snorted in response, pushing his nose against Nursey’s hand.

Thankfully, the trip to the train, and the the ride to NYC was completely boring. Dex was bandaged up and only needed a little help getting into the back seat of the Uber. Nursey gave the driver nearly all the cash in his wallet as a tip for sticking around so long and helping with Dex. Dex had his new official soulmate harness, so no one gave them any trouble on the train. 

And Dex spent the trip with his head on Nursey’s lap. It was nice. 

By the time they reached the city, Nursey had managed to set up regular deliveries of green chop. He’d also managed to find a plaid sheep tube, which was only made slightly easier once he’d realized they weren’t actually underarmor. Apparently, most people that dress up their sheep prefer leopard or zebra prints, or solid colors. 

He also ordered Dex a little bit of crack corn. He’d apparently saved a flock of lambs. He deserved it.

Nursey smiled to himself. He could give Dex everything he deserved and there was nothing Dex could do about it. 

He spent several minutes staring at the bundle of wool that was apparently from Dex. 

Me: Hey, so, apparently I’ve got a fleece of Dex wool.  
Me: What can I do with that???  
Lards: Ford knits, right? Ask her.

Nursey nodded. He’d do that. But later. He was pretty sure everyone at Jack’s house knew what had happened by now. But he wasn’t ready to try to explain it to the taddies.

By the time they reached Nursey’s house, he was completely drained. It had been a long day. He forced himself to take the time and set up a feeding spot for Dex’s hay, and to remove the harness so that Dex could be comfortable. Then he fell onto his bed and prepared to sleep straight through until morning. Dex seemed to have the same idea, because the bed dipped a few moments later.

Nursey laid a hand on Dex’s back, trailing fingers through the short wool left after he was shorn. This really wasn’t how he’d imagined his first time sharing a bed with Dex.

But Dex had jumped up all on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Animal attack, Animal Injury, some descriptions of injury and treatment.  
> To skip, stop at the paragraph that first mentions Doc Hampe.   
> ~~ The first farmer returned and paused his atv near the people still around the store and house. “Call Doc Hampe. Tell him it’s a soulmate.” Then he drove off towards the barn. ~~  
> Skip the next 4 paragraphs, and pick back up with the paragraph that starts "Dr. Hampe"  
> ~~Dr. Hampe gave Nursey some care instructions before he left, with some words of advice as well.~~
> 
> Random notes:  
> Nursey needed to learn about sheep nutrition. Now we all know too.  
> The actual farm I've based this on is smaller than I was imagining. This is because I'm used to beef cattle ranches, but my sister and niece run their goats using an atv and they've only got like 15 acres, so it seems reasonable that these people use atvs for getting around quick.  
> LGD is Livestock Guardian Dog. Named after the half Great Pyrenees that guards my niece's goats.  
> Dr. Hampe is named for one of the vets that worked at the clinic in my town while I was growing up. Pronounced "Hamp-ee".  
> I was only able to find neon plaid for sheep tubes, so I'm really hoping that in this other universe Nursey was able to find a more Dex plaid.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: Some embarrassment about bathroom situations. Because he's a sheep.

Nursey woke up alone. It wasn’t the first time he’d fallen asleep with someone only to wake up alone, so it probably shouldn’t have been a surprise. It’s just, it was the first time he’d fallen asleep with his soulmate. With Dex.

He took his time yawning and stretching, trying to convince himself that it was fine. Everything was fine. It wasn’t like Dex could go far anyway, he’d shut the bedroom door when they came in. He sat up and looked around and felt his stomach drop. 

The door was open. Of course, he had lever style door handles his bedroom. A sheep could work those, no problem. Nursey flung himself out of bed, mind racing about if Dex could have gotten out of the house. Even if he was still in the house, there was the pool and the sauna. So many dangerous places for a sheep. Why hadn’t he taken the time to sheep proof the house before he fell asleep? How many times could he lose his soulmate in the first twenty-four hours? 

He was hoping on one foot, trying to pull on a pair of sweats when he heard a noise from his bathroom and nearly fell over. He managed to save it and get his foot unstuck and through the leg of the pants. He hurried through his closet and into the bathroom to find Dex standing in the bathtub. 

He was shifting his weight, which was how his hooves had made noise against the tub, shivering, and swinging his head back and forth. He almost seemed embarrassed, maybe even contrite. 

Maybe it was a sign that he’d spent too much time staring at, studying, his line partner (although, perhaps all the staring was excusable now, since they were soulmates), but he was pretty sure that it wasn’t the sort of embarrassed that would have normally been a blush and an eyeroll, like when they chirped him about wheeling. This was more somehow. Like, humiliation. Nursey’s face fell.

“What’s wrong, Dexy? You scared me. I thought you’d run off or something. Dex, sheep lost in New York City.” He tried to smile but Dex just tapped a hoof twice and fixed him with a stare for a few seconds before looking down and swaying his head again. 

“Come on, Dexy. What are you doing in here? I don’t know if you’re supposed to get baths. I’ll look it up, but you can’t just. You can’t just give yourself one.” Nursey sighed and looked around. His gaze tracked across some dark brown pebbles on the floor and he looked again. Not pebbles. He looked at the toilet. Of course. He carefully stepped over to the bathtub. 

“Hey Dexy. It’s ok. Right? I can get this cleaned up and we’ll make sure you have access to places you can go. There’s a garden on the first floor and a terrace on the roof.”

He helped Dex out of the bathtub and rinsed it out as best he could. He couldn’t help but think that this might be going smoother if he’d been the one to transform. Dex probably knew exactly what sheep needed. Then again, he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t have turned into a sheep. Of course, no one had expected Chowder to turn into a kitten either. Except maybe Farmer. He thought they might have the record for the quickest bond formation after transformation.

Once they were both back in the bedroom, Nursey slumped into his desk chair. He shot off a quick text to the housekeeper about his bathroom and then pulled up the soulmate app while he opened tabs on his computer. He needed to compare reviews of contractors and get someone out there same day to make the modifications to the garden and terrace. Maybe they could even set up some sort of spot in one of the corners of his room. 

“Ok, Dexy. I was thinking I _could_ get started on figuring out what it means that you’re a sheep. _Or_ we could have a ‘Welcome to New York’ day and I’ll take out out to the Statue of Liberty and we’ll get cronuts. There’s so much I want to show you.” He smiled down at him. “Of course, we don’t have to do it all today. But I think it’s actually a law that you have to visit the Statue of Liberty your first day in NYC. You don’t want to break the law, do you Dexy?”

Dex rolled his eyes and butted his head into Nursey’s knee.

“Hey. I know you speak sheep now. You can use your words.” Nursey grinned but Dex only grunted in reply. “Yeah, ok. But seriously. Bah if you want.”

Dex pressed his head against Nursey’s leg again and Nursey rubbed between the base of his horns. There were so many things he wanted to show Dex, and this month might be his only chance. 

~*~

Dex didn’t think he’d ever been more mortified in his life than when Nursey walked into the bathroom that morning. He’d known it was going to happen because who else would find him there. Still, it was a situation that he’d never wanted to be in around Nursey, so bad that even his worst nightmares hadn’t considered it. He was pretty sure that was going to change.

It could have been worse; Nursey was understanding and calm about the whole thing, didn’t make a big deal out of it. Even if he did then spend what was probably more than Dex’s uncle’s lobster boat was worth to have temporary accommodations created for him. Which was humiliating in a different way.

Now he was standing on the deck of a ferry, looking across the water at the Statue of Liberty, wearing a new onesie, or sheep tube as the tag had called it. Nursey kept referring to it as his underarmor though. 

He couldn’t figure Nursey out at all. One minute, he was being nice and not making a big deal out of the fact that Dex was causing him all sorts of extra trouble. The next he was saying that they should go sightseeing instead of working on completing the soul bond. Then he’d spent a ton of money on more stuff for Dex -he didn’t need a new harness, they’d just bought one- but he did take the time to find a sheep tube that was the same pattern as one of Dex’s favorite flannels. And he waited until Dex’s new food arrived so that Dex wouldn’t have to go hungry all day, but he was also planning on going for cronuts. 

Did Nursey even want to form the soul bond? Or was this all some weird way to put it off until the month was up? Dex snorted. It wasn’t like he wouldn’t enjoy seeing the Statue and Ellis Island. It was just that he would prefer to do it as a human. It’s like Nursey didn’t plan to spend time with him anymore once he was human again. 

He really thought that he’d been prepared for that possibility. After all, until the day before, he’d never expected to even have this chance to spend a month as Nursey’s soulmate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully I'll get better at getting this ready before the last minute, but since school has started back up, I can't guarantee it. I'm going to keep trying for the weekly updates though.


	7. Chapter 7

When they finally returned to the Nurse home all Dex wanted to do was lay down and take a nap. His leg was hurting and starting to itch, which he hoped was from healing and not infection, and it was just tiring being a sheep. He must have looked as tired as he felt, because Nursey had a car pick them up from the cronut shop and take them back instead of taking the subway again. 

Walking across the marble floors of the reception foyer in the Nurse home Dex’s hooves slipped out from under him. He thought that he’d actually been doing quite well, considering the fact that until the day before he’d been bipedal. Still, hooves and polished marble were not meant to go together, and he ended up splayed on the floor. He closed his eyes and wondered how Nursey’d managed to survive growing up in a house that was definitely not Nursey-proof.

He probably would have just taken a nap right there, but then Nursey’s hands were sliding under his hips and lifting. He’d be lying if he said he’d never thought about Nursey’s hands on his hips. He was only human, after all. Except, right now he wasn’t human which took a lot of the enjoyment out of the moment, even if it did at least mean that he wasn’t blushing. Small mercies. 

“Come on, Dexy. I can’t lift you by myself like this.”

Dex snorted. As though Nursey could lift him normally. 

Nursey’s hands moved away from his sides. “Yes, I could lift you. I can bench press your weight. If you’d ever chill long enough.”

Dex snorted again and pulled his legs in to try to stand up. As though he’d let Nursey try to bench press him and end up dropping him. No, if either of them was picking up the other one, Dex would carry Nursey. 

Nursey helped steady Dex as he stood up and then they managed to walk slowly to the elevator.

“I could totally lift you. Chill.”

Dex nudged his head against Nursey’s leg. 

“You’ll see.” Nursey pulled out his phone and tapped on it. 

Dex grunted and Nursey looked over. 

“I’m going to see if we have any rugs in storage or something that can be put out to make it easier. My parents are abroad for the summer, so they won’t care.”

The elevator stopped on the floor with Nursey’s bedroom before Dex could do something embarrassing like lean into Nursey’s leg in appreciation.

He stopped in his tracks when they entered Nursey’s room. The place was completely different from when they left. His food area was rebuilt and nicer, with fresh hay in the wire feeder, a fountain style water basin, and a stoneware grain bowl. There was a ramp to Nursey’s bed, and another bedding area off to the side. He didn’t look, but he’d be willing to bet that the bathroom had been reconstructed to accommodate him as well. 

Nursey was staring at him and wringing his hands. “You don’t have to use the sheep bed. You’re definitely welcome up on my bed. That’s why I had the ramp put in. But I don’t want you to think that you have to either. Consent is chill.”

Even if he could talk, Dex wouldn’t know what to say. It was nice. It was really nice. It must have cost a ton. Unlike the rugs, which the Nurse’s probably kept from previous decorating schemes, or even if purchased could be reused in the future, this was all done expressly for Dex. Not even that. Expressly for Dex as a sheep. One way or another, in a month or less this would all be money down the drain. It had been bad enough when he’d known Nursey was paying to have the garden and terrace redone for him. 

He laid down in the middle of the floor. 

Maybe this was just what rich people expected from their soulmates during the transformation. Daily deliveries of specialty food, designer label harnesses, and a complete home remodel based on whatever animal they were. 

And if Nursey had been the one to transform, Dex would have had to leave him at home while he spent all day on the lobster boat. Dex wasn’t even sure if any of his family would have been able to stay home with Nursey. He’d probably end up using the entire month just working and not manage to figure out the meaning behind the transformation at all, much less how to show Nursey that he understood him. 

Not that it would matter. Why would Nursey even want to form the bond after seeing how Dex lived up close and personal?

Dex closed his eyes. Whoever decided to stick Nursey with him as a soulmate owed Nursey a huge apology.

~*~

Nursey stared down at Dex. He’d just laid down in the middle of the floor. Nursey looked over at the sheep bed. It looked comfy. Even if Dex didn’t want to cuddle again, surely the sheep bed was better than the floor. But it was chill. Dex could do whatever he wanted as long as he was comfortable. 

Nursey turned off the main light and flopped onto his bed with just his reading lamp. He figured he should probably start working on the first part of the bond formation - figuring out why Dex was a sheep. Luckily, one of the apps he’d downloaded the day before claimed it would help with that.

> Step One  
>  Determine the meaning behind your soulmate’s transformation. This is generally related to a hidden or deep personality trait. You probably know your soulmate well, so this should be fairly straight forward.

Nursey huffed a laugh. He’d thought that he’d known Dex well, but a sheep was the last thing that he associated with him. Then again, he also didn’t expect Dex to be his soulmate. He would have been much more careful about their first kiss if he had.

> If the meaning isn’t immediately clear, many people are able to work it out based on common quotes and idioms related to their soulmate’s animal form. 
> 
> Select your soulmate’s animal form below for a list of common quotes and idioms.

Nursey scrolled through the list until he found “sheep”. It was worth a try at least.

> As gentle as a lamb

Gentle is not the word that Nursey would use for Dex.

> Black sheep of the family

Maybe, but Dex hadn’t really turned into a black sheep. And, as far as Nursey knew, he wasn’t the family weirdo or outcast.

> Get one’s goat

Yes, Dex did annoy Nursey kind of a lot, but he wasn’t a goat. Nursey frowned. Why was this one even in with the sheep quotes?

> A wolf in sheep’s clothing

Nursey looked over at Dex. That hardly fit. “A wolf in wolf’s clothing, more like.” Dex’s ears flicked and his leg twitched. Nursey decided that he was agreeing to the sentiment.

> Like lambs to the slaughter

The phone fell from his hands. Why was that even an option that they included? He shook his head vigorously and picked the phone back up. Regardless, the idiom didn’t apply, Dex never went anywhere without complaining and considering the dangers. The app didn’t have any more suggestions other than to delve deeper into the personality and habits of the animal to try to find a connection.

He closed out the app and looked over at Dex again. A slight frown wrinkled his brow and he stood up. It looked as though the bandage on Dex’s leg had come loose. He approached quietly and knelt down, running a hand gently over Dex’s back, before pulling the sheep tube up and looking at the bandage.

Dex woke up and rolled his head around to look at him. 

“Shh. It’s chill. I’m gonna fix your bandage and then we can call it a night, yeah?” 

Dex blinked in response before dropping his head back down, which Nursey decided was agreement. As gently as he could, he peeled the old bandage the rest of the way off. It looked clean and pretty much the same as the day before. It occurred to him that taking Dex out for a long excursion the day after he was injured might have reinjured him and he had to close his eyes and take a deep breath. 

It was fine, it was chill, Dex was fine. Getting a new bandage applied was easier than he thought and he readjusted the tube afterwards before stroking his hand down Dex’s back one more time, ostensibly to straighten the tube. 

“Good night, Dex. We’ll take it easy tomorrow. Don’t even have to leave the room.”

Dex’s only reply was another blink so Nursey got up and got ready for bed. He’d just laid down and turned off his lamp when he heard hooves on the ramp and then felt the dip in the bed as Dex laid down beside him again. 

His mouth curled up into a smile as he drifted off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this days ahead of time and then forgot to post yesterday. *sigh*
> 
> Nursey can't understand what Dex is thinking in sheep form, he just knows how Dex would chirp him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly just a nice fluffy chapter with only mild angst.
> 
> There are a few cameos in this chapter. Shout out to everyone that let me put them, their dogs, or their child in my fic.

They spent two days at the house. They did leave the room, spending part of the day up on the roof and Nursey took time to exercise in the basement gym. He set Dex up on the treadmill at a low speed. Dex had stood on it for five minutes and glared until Nursey turned it on for him.

“You’re hurt, you should rest.”

Dex responded with a glare.

“Chill. But I’m only setting it at a walking pace and you have to promise to bah if you start getting tired or your leg starts hurting.”

Dex pressed his head into Nursey’s leg in agreement; he didn’t intend to let a transformation get him out of shape over the summer. Especially since Nursey kept giving him cracked corn. Which would be fine, Dex would have just moderated himself, but he looked really unchill if Dex didn’t eat it all. Sure, this wasn’t exactly an ideal time for Dex, but Nursey was dealing with a lot of unexpected stuff too. 

So, they worked out, and they chilled in various places around the house. Dex rested a lot. Nursey read, or spent time on his computer or phone. Sometimes he read things off Tumblr that he thought Dex would find funny. Sometimes Dex did find them funny. He never read what he wrote out loud for Dex. 

After two days of it, Nursey was clearly starting to feel closed in, so Dex lead him to the front door and head butted it.

“You want to go out somewhere? Uh, where?” Nursey was staring at him as if expecting an answer. As if Dex knew where to go in New York City even if he could speak.

Dex snorted and laid down on the carpets that had been placed in the foyer. 

“Guess it’s up to me then. Chill.” Nursey pulled out his phone and tapped on it for a bit. “Ok. I got a car coming. Usually I’d take the metro, but with your leg, well, less walking and fewer crowded spaces is probably better.” 

Some time later an actual freaking Lincoln Town Car with an official driver dropped them off at a spa. This was a mistake. But Nursey seemed excited, so he ground his teeth together and went into the spa. 

“Welcome back, Mr. Nurse!” The receptionist had a large smile and Dex wondered if she was actually happy or if it was her customer service smile. She was talking to Nursey, so it was possible this was actually genuine. “You know we always aim to accommodate you and we were just thrilled to hear that you were coming in for one of our soulmate packages.” 

She paused slightly. Most people probably wouldn’t have noticed and maybe she just needed to catch her breath. Dex narrowed his eyes and lowered his head. He wasn’t feeling very generous at the moment. She was gorgeous and probably a great match for Nursey, better than him, for sure. But she could wait until the bond didn’t form before hitting on his soulmate in front of him. Just a little consideration. 

“We don’t have anyone with specific experience in sheep massage, but I’ve got Lindsey here, she’s from a small town upstate, so she’s got experience with livestock.” The receptionist paused and indicated a woman who seemed to be grimacing and barely restraining herself from rolling her eyes. 

Dex grunted and rolled his eyes for her. Of course a city native would think all people from rural areas had experience with livestock. Lindsey met his gaze and the corner of her mouth twitched up in a slight smirk. Dex decided that she was his favorite.

“And Tomas should be here in just a moment. He handles our large dogs and is just finishing up with the weekly George time.” 

This didn’t make sense to Dex until a door opened and he was suddenly confronted by a fluffy black dog as large as he was. Dex froze as the dog, a Newf, approached him and another, slightly smaller black dog (possibly a retriever mix) came over to his side and sniffed at him. It’s not that he didn’t trust Newfs and retrievers, a week ago he would have trusted them with his life. 

Dex stayed frozen, his eyes darting between the dogs until the Newf laid down and the retriever sat. Nursey seemed to have noticed his distress and put a hand on his back. Then, finally, two people from the waiting area called out “George!” in unison and the dogs looked over and trotted away. Dex finally relaxed and looked over at Nursey. Except, it wasn’t Nursey. Lindsey patted his back. 

“It’s ok. They’re good boys, but big, huh? A lot to handle without warning.” 

Dex leaned into her leg in appreciation, still looking around for Nursey. He was still at the desk talking to the receptionist and Tomas. 

The massage was nice. The pedicure (hooficure?) was...weird. Dex had a hard time appreciating them.

~*~

Nursey actually really loved Central Park. He was lounging on the grass FaceTiming with Chowder while Dex laid on the grass a bit away and let a curly haired toddler climb all over him. 

Nursey’d explained that the sheep had an owwie on his leg, so they needed to be careful and the child’s parental unit was keeping an eye on her. But still. Nursey kept his eyes glued on them also, which was maybe not fair to Chowder on the phone, but well. Dex was letting a two-year-old climb all over him and barely twitching an ear. He told himself that he wasn’t allowed to find that hot, but who was he kidding? Dex being domestic was what got them into this spot in the first place. 

“I’m so happy for you!” Chowder was smiling from his phone and Nursey glanced over to smile back.

“Thanks, C. I’m just worried because I haven’t figured out anything for changing him back. I thought I knew him. I mean, it’s been five days. You and Cait had formed your bond by now and you guys hadn’t even known each other nearly as long.” 

The toddler patted Dex’s leg right where he was injured and Dex visibly tensed. Nursey sat up and nearly dropped the phone ready to lunge over but Dex relaxed as the child pressed a kiss to the sheep tube covering the injury. 

“You kissing it better for him, baby? That’s so nice. Why don’t we leave the owwie alone, okay?” The parental figure redirected the child and Nursey relaxed as they practiced petting Dex’s head gently. 

Nursey tuned back in to the call and realized he’d missed Chowder saying something. “Oh, uh, sorry. I missed that.”

Farmer squeezed into frame and replied instead. “Look, ours went fast because I’ve had cats all my life. It made it easy for me to understand that while he’s cute and cuddly and playful, he’s also mischievous, serious and a murder machine. On the ice.” She paused to kiss Chowder’s cheek. “I’m not sure how much it applies to a sheep, but it’s not just about the animal that they are. Like, Chowder being a cat was also referencing all the big cats but soulmates only turn into domestic animals.”

Chowder grinned. “Have you found anything that matches up with Dex yet? You said you’d downloaded some apps, right?”

Nursey groaned. “They gave me a list of idioms that don’t even make sense. Like ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing.’ Seriously. Dex? He’s a wolf in wolf’s clothing!”

Farmer and Chowder both frowned. “That’s not how it works, Nursey. If he was a wolf, then he’d be the nearest domestic option to a wolf. The fact he’s a sheep should be telling you something about the real him.”

Nursey frowned at Farmer’s words. “What? Are you saying that he’s a sheep in wolf’s clothing then?” 

As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt like something clicked into place, as a warmth spread from his chest. He looked over at Dex and found him looking back, his head tilted as the toddler pulled on his horn. 

“Chill. It was a pun all along. A sheep in Dex’s flannel.”

“Wait. Are you serious? Was that it? OMG!” Chowder and Farmer were beaming at him when he looked back.

“Well, now you just gotta figure out what act of service will cover what that means for who he really is and who you are as a couple.” 

“Oh! You just gotta look him in the eyes and say ‘Baa-Ram-Ewe!’” Chowder nodded sagely. 

Nursey smiled. “Doesn’t hurt to try, right?” He looked over at Dex and now the child was sitting on Dex’s back and trying to use his horns as reins. “But first, I think I’ll save him from a tiny knight who has decided that he’s her noble steed. I’ll call you guys later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, you can yell at me in comments or on Tumblr at [SexyDexyNurse.](https://sexydexynurse.tumblr.com/)
> 
> That receptionist was totally flirting with Nursey, but I'm not sure she could help it. He has that affect.


	9. Chapter 9

Nursey thought it might be easier once he’d worked out the secret meaning for why Dex was a sheep. It was a point of reference to work from. They were clearly due for a movie night. 

First, he thought he remembered the phrase from an Eddie Izzard special, so they watched that. It didn’t make it any clearer. Just talked about sheep shearing themselves and attacking wolves. 

“Ok. Maybe Chowder’s idea will be more help.” Nursey looked at Dex but Dex wasn’t looking. He was chewing on something. Which was a problem, because Dex had been on the bed with Nursey for nearly two hours, and therefore couldn’t be eating sheep treats or hay.

“What are you eating, Dex?” 

Dex finally looked over, but when Nursey reached over for him, he lunged away. Nursey threw himself after. Dex scrambled to get to his feet, but Nursey grabbed ahold of the sheep tube and scrabbled after him. “What do you have!” 

Dex’s leg caught in the duvet cover and when he kicked to free it, he managed to catch Nursey. He grunted and fell forward. Dex stilled immediately, so he ended up pinning Dex down. He took a second to catch his breath and then grabbed for Dex’s mouth. Dex was stubborn though. He might have stopped trying to escape, but he locked his jaw and Nursey had to pry it open. Dex glared at him the whole time. 

“Just let me see what you’re eating. Things are toxic to sheep. I’m trying to keep you from dying here.” 

It was like Dex didn’t want Nursey to save his life. Nursey finally managed to get Dex’s mouth open and found….hay. Wet, kinda sticky, hay. He released Dex’s mouth and rolled back onto the bed. Dex continued to glare at him and started slowly chewing again. His leg twitched and pulled at the blanket.

Right, he was still all twisted up. Nursey sat up and freed Dex’s hoof before realigning himself and rescuing his laptop from the other side of the bed where it had tumbled when he threw himself at Dex.  
After a few minutes, Dex got up and moved back over by Nursey, bumping his head into Nursey’s shoulder and then laying down with his head on Nursey’s thigh. 

“I know you didn’t mean to kick me.” Nursey shook his head. He lifted his shirt up and inspected where Dex had caught him, but there wasn’t even a mark. “Chill, it probably won’t even bruise. I’ve taken harder on the ice.”

Dex snorted and rolled his eyes. Nursey rubbed his head. He missed being able to ruffle Dex’s hair. “I’m sorry I lunged at you like that. I was just worried. Why are you still eating hay? It could have been anything, you know.”

Actually, he should check. Maybe he should still be worried. He opened a new tab on his laptop and searched for sheep chewing. The first results all mentioned cud and Nursey facepalmed. “Guess I know what cud looks like now.” 

How could he have forgotten that sheep chew cud? That was day one information: four stomachs, chew cud. Dex snorted again. It seemed fair. He wouldn’t have wanted Dex prying open his mouth to look at half eaten food either. They would just have to ignore the times that they’d purposely shown each other half chewed food at team meals to try to gross each other out. It was different when it was intentional. 

“Okay, well. We’ll just put this behind us. It’s chill.”

For once, Dex didn’t feel the need to respond with a snort, so Nursey moved back to the streaming app and pulled up Babe. “As I was saying, we’re gonna try Chowder’s way now.”

The movie was sappy and sweet and Nursey definitely did not cry. It wasn’t fair. Dex was a sheep and probably couldn’t cry. Nursey was sure that he’d have been at least sniffling otherwise. 

“Ok, so. Sit up so I can look at you.” 

Nursey put his laptop on the bedside table and then arranged himself in front of Dex.  
“Baa-ram-ewe. Baa-ram-ewe. To your breed, your fleece, your clan be true. Sheep be true. Baa-ram-ewe.”

Dex stared back at him. He blinked once, then heaved a sigh and baa’ed before climbing off the bed and getting a drink at his fountain.

“Ok. Chill.” Nursey frowned. This was going to take more research. But not tonight. It was late and he was tired. 

Once again, when he turned off the lights and climbed into bed, Dex came up the ramp a few minutes later and laid down beside him. Nursey smiled. He could really get used to this.

*~*

Washington Square Park was not the hit that Nursey had hoped it would be. It was one of his favorite places to go. He enjoyed spending hours browsing through vinyl at the record stores, finding new favorite artists (second favorite artists) in the Mews, and eating at some of his favorite places. 

Dex, on the other hand, didn’t seem to care for any of it. Even the outdoor chess games only elicited a grunt before Dex looked around for a shady spot to lay down. The Church of Ascension got a bit more than a cursory look around. But Nursey had expected more than that. It was an amazing example of Gothic Revival architecture, after all. Dex didn’t seem to care. 

Dex wasn’t crass. He didn’t grunt or snort or roll his eyes at the things that Nursey showed him. Which made it really irritating, because Nursey couldn’t tell if Dex wasn’t enjoying it because he was a sheep and couldn’t engage normally, or if he just wasn’t interested in what the park had to offer. 

Luckily, Mamoun’s had some sheep friendly falafel, but Nursey left Dex outside while he picked it up. The idea of Dex standing in front of lamb kebabs was still distressing. Then, after swinging by to grab a slice of pizza for himself, they sat to eat and ruminate. Literally in Dex’s case. 

Nursey pulled out his phone and pulled up the messaging app. They’d seen an artist doing something interesting with yarn in the Mews earlier and it had reminded him of Dex’s fleece. 

Me: Hey, I got a question. And maybe a favor.

Surprisingly, it didn’t take long for a reply to pop up.

FoxyLady: Is this about Dex being a sheep?  
Me: Kind of. How do you know about that?  
FoxyLady: I know all. I see all. What do you want to know? I have never touched a living sheep in my life, and I don’t intend to start now, so keep that in mind.  
Me: Noted. Actually, Dex got sheared the first day, so I’ve got this fleece just kinda laying around. Do you know how to make that into something?  
FoxyLady: ….  
FoxyLady: No.  
Me: OK. Do you know someone who would?  
FoxyLady: Look, I only spin and knit. I can’t make fleece into roving. I could, but it would be shit and I don’t have the time to get better at it.  
Me: Ok…  
FoxyLady: Here’s the name of the woman I usually go to for dyed roving. Send it to her, have her contact me about it.  
[address withheld]  
Me: You’re the best Nicey.  
FoxyLady: I know. What do you want me to make from it?  
Me: I don’t know how much you can make from one fleece. But uh, something matching for Dex and I? That would be chill.  
FoxyLady: You owe me.  
Me: I have excellent references for my bibliography skills.  
FoxyLady: You owe me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It still worries me that people think Dex's headbutts are harder than they are. It's more of a head bump, kind of like when a cat will bump it's forehead against a person? Sometimes a little firmer than others, depending on if it's an irritated or attention getting bump versus a purely affectionate bump. But sheep headbutt for defense and can do some pretty serious damage with it if he was doing a real headbutt. So that's not what he's doing. Just, keep that in mind. He's tapping Nursey... with his head. 
> 
> And he feels so bad about the kick even though it didn't really even hurt Nursey. Just, he needed to get away. He was being attacked and Nursey, come on, you do not need to know about the cud. You are a city boy, please, let the digestive system of ruminants remain a mystery.
> 
> also, re: Eddie Izzard, I know I have one of his cd's or maybe a dvd where he talks about sheep in wolves' clothing and maybe it was that he misspoke and went with it, but I cannot for the life of me find a transcript or clip on youtube that has it that way. So, I don't know.


	10. Chapter 10

Two weeks after his first kiss with Dex, Nursey knew a lot more about sheep than he ever thought he’d want to. He knew that they flocked for safety because predators had a difficult time picking out individual sheep. He knew that they would follow their leader, sometimes even to death, with the more submissive sheep following the more dominant and rams usually being in the lead when they were in the flock. He knew that they were social and _needed_ to be around other sheep, getting anxious and agitated if they couldn’t see other sheep. He knew that sheep that went off by themselves were probably sick. He knew that sheep were hungry all the time. He knew that while they rested a lot, sheep sleep about 15% of the time, which some quick math told him was just over three and a half hours a day. He knew that a sheep that couldn’t relax was stressed or in pain. 

He knew that they warned people about rams. That rams were aggressive, especially in breeding season. That people shouldn’t turn their backs on rams and they shouldn’t be trusted with children. That rams could injure or even kill people.

And he knew that headbutting was used as a dominance display. That they discouraged petting or scratching the head because it could be seen as a challenge. 

Nursey did not know how any of this applied to Dex. So Dex was still a sheep. 

Nursey reread over his notes and looked at Dex with a sigh. “Do you really only sleep for less than four hours? What do you do the rest of the time I’m sleeping? Do you sleep like that normally?”

Dex just blinked at him and chewed some cud.

Nursey flopped onto his bed next to Dex and poked him in the shoulder. “Ok. I’m really trying to figure this out so you can be human again. So please chill and help me.”

Dex grunted which Nursey took as an affirmative. 

“Follows the leader. Not like, literally, but maybe that means like how you kinda just go with what the upperclassmen say? Actually, I think that if Jack told you to jump off a bridge, or did it himself, then you wouldn’t even stop to ask if you should get a running start.” Nursey looked at Dex out of the corner of his eyes and was gratified to hear Dex’s annoyed huff. He hoped Dex didn’t expect them to stop chirping each other just because they were soulmates.

He smirked and turned his focus back to his notes, marking that as a potential Dex trait. “Ok, hungry all the time. We’re hockey players. Not useful. Um, rams specifically, aggressive, yes.” He paused as Dex snorted. “You are, be quiet. Not safe around children….” He trailed off and thought about the day in Central Park. “Yeah, that’s fake.” He marked it off.

“Could injure or kill a person.” Nursey looked at Dex’s horns and remembered the first day when Dex was injured protecting the flock he’d been with for only a short while. “Valid.” He made the note. 

“Headbutting as a dominance display. You have been headbutting me a lot since you became a sheep.” He turned and looked at Dex seriously. “Dexy, are you kinky?”

Dex snorted and turned his head away.

“I’m not trying to kink shame you, Dexy! I mean, it also says not to pet rams’ heads because it is seen as a challenge, but you don’t seem to mind me doing that. So I guess you’re a switch? I can work with that.” 

Dex snorted again and rolled his eyes. 

Nursey smiled and made a note on his list that it was a possibility. They’d probably need to talk about it when Dex was human again. He was sure that kink negotiations should only occur when all parties involved were human. He also made a note to make a list of his hard limits, just in case. He wanted to be sure he did things right with his soulmate, with Dex.

He cleared his throat and looked away from the note, back up the list. “Uh. Chill. What else? Flocking behavior for safety, the social need to be around others, and inability to relax equals stress.” He looked at Dex and raised his brows. “That last one for sure. You can never chill. The need for social flocking, I'm not sure on. You’re one of the most introverted guys on the team. But I guess you do like to hang out in the general vicinity of the rest of us.” 

Nursey paused and looked at Dex thoughtfully. “Is that why you wanted dibs so badly? I mean, I know it’s cheaper. But you started asking Shitty about dibs frog year.”

Dex lowered his head and wouldn’t look at Nursey, which he was pretty sure was a yes. 

“I’m sorry that I said I’d make you move out. I didn’t mean it. I just wanted you to fight to stay. You freaked out so bad about sharing and it hurt. Like you didn’t want to be with me. But, I mean. I’d been trying for Lardo’s dibs because sharing with my crush would have been rough, so. I guess I get where you were coming from.” Nursey tilted his head. “I mean, I guess you liked me before I kissed you.”

Dex pressed his head against Nursey’s side and Nursey smiled. He lay there for awhile, content to just lay next to Dex and think about the fact that Dex had liked him before the transformation too. He felt Dex press his head into Nursey’s side twice more. “What were those for?” He propped himself up and looked at Dex. “Are you apologizing for dibs flip, too?” 

Dex pressed his head against Nursey again and Nursey reached out to rub his forehead. “Look, we’ll talk about it when you’re, you know, able to talk again. But, in case it wasn’t obvious with the whole kiss and soulmate situation, I’m not really holding a huge grudge about it. We just gotta communicate better.” 

Dex snorted.

“Yeah, right now you can’t talk, but you’ll have to eventually, Poindexter.”

Dex responded by standing up and getting a drink before returning to lay down in his usually sleeping spot. 

“Chill. We’ll sleep now and I’ll figure out what I need to do to change you back tomorrow.” Nursey put his phone to charge and turned off the light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me when I came up with this idea: I'll make Dex a sheep, that's an amusing though. City boy Nursey will be so confused!  
> Me now: So, Dex is a sheep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw panic attack? It's not first person and symptoms are vague. Starts after the first scene switch and goes for 8 paragraph blocks.
> 
> tw nausea/vomiting. last three paragraphs, starts with "apparently sheep could".

Nursey woke up the next morning with his face pressed into Dex’s back. It was still all wooly, so he decided he must not have finished the bond in his sleep. He kept hoping. He rolled over and started smacking the bed between them as he reached for his phone.

“Dex. Dex get up. I know you only sleep like four hours. Get up. We gotta send Chowder a picture before he sends in a rescue team or something.”

Dex snorted and the mattress dipped slightly as he moved. Nursey finally grabbed his phone off the charger and turned to look, finding Dex on his back with his hooves straight up in the air and his head to the side with tongue lolling.

“Playing dead? Ok. Yeah, chill. We haven’t done that yet.” Nursey positioned himself to be in the shot looking comically horrified and snapped it to Chowder.

“Ok, but really. I want to get an early start today.” Nursey pulled himself upright and looked around as Dex rolled back over as well and blinked at him. “Right. You’re pretty much ready. I’ll grab your food and you can eat that while I shower and dress.”

He didn’t get a reply to his photo until they were in the car, which was still super early for Chowder on the west coast.

Toothless: You’re lucky I can tell he’s faking.  
Toothless: If either of you dies during this, I’m killing the other one.

Nursey leaned against Dex to get him in the frame and then sent a quick photo response of him saluting the camera.

Me: We’re are prepared for that eventuality.

He laughed at Chowder’s responding angry eyebrow face.

When the car dropped them outside the gates to Coney Island, he could tell that Dex looked unconvinced. 

“It’ll be a ton of fun, Dexy. I’m actually remiss in not bringing you here sooner. It’s pretty much required for anyone in the city longer than two days. They have special accomodations for soulmates in transformation. I checked to make sure which attractions would be accessible for you.” He grinned before turning to the entrance. “First stop, bumper cars!”

Dex followed him, so he counted it as a win.

Thirty minutes later, Nursey was trying to fight through a pack of six year olds that had them cornered and were battering into their car mercilessly. It occurred to him that bumper cars would probably have been more fun if Dex was driving. At the very least, he could have been leaning into Dex and chirping him over the fact that a bunch of kids were out driving them. As it was, he was being pummeled by a bunch of kids and Dex was sitting in a back seat area, hunched down and quiet. 

The kids seemed to be having fun. Maybe that counted for something. Nursey thought back to the day in the Park when Dex let the toddler climb all over him. And, okay, no. Now was not the time to think of Dex being good with small children. Soulbond first. Daydreams about Dex with kids… later.

Finally, their time ended and the power shut off to the cars. The kids around them all piled out quickly, many stopped to pat Dex before running off to their waiting parents and whatever the next ride was. 

Nursey waited until the area was clear and stepped out slowly, trying to make sure his legs were steady. This was his idea, show no weakness. Dex climbed out of the back of the car slowly and gave him a baleful glare.

*~*

Nursey sat down on the sidewalk and eased Dex’s head into his lap, running his hand over Dex’s forehead rhythmically. 

“Shh. It’s ok. It’s ok. We’re on solid ground. I’m here. I’ve got you.”

Dex was shaking under his hands and it wasn’t letting up. 

“Hey! You’re blocking the way!”

“Go around, ah-jerk. I’m dealing with something here.” Nursey gritted out his reply, catching himself just in time as he saw a number of kids standing a bit away with their mothers. 

Kids seemed to flock to Dex. At least the mothers were restraining them rather than treating Dex like their personal petting zoo. The glares he was shooting might have helped.

“Hey Dexy babe. You’re safe. It’s ok. I’m sorry. Parachute Jump was a bad idea. I should probably have thought that through. I just didn’t think you had problems with heights as a human. I guess that doesn’t necessarily translate though.”

He kept petting and murmuring at Dex for some time. He wasn’t sure how long. As long as it took. But eventually, finally, Dex stopped shaking and stood back up, allowing Nursey to guide him to the museum after multiple promises to not take him to any attractions that involved being lifted off the floor.

The museum was not really one of Nursey’s favorite parts of Coney Island. It was kind of interesting, he supposed, the first time. But really, it’s biggest draw was being out of the sun and some place a bit quieter. Which was perfect for helping Dex calm down the rest of the way. 

They left the museum and went to the Aquarium. It was slightly noisier. More kids screaming over cool fishes. Once they got away from the touch pools, it was a bit quieter again.

They were by one of the bigger tanks when Nursey noticed something along the bottom. He pointed it out. “Tell me the truth, Dexteradoo. Do you know him?” 

Dex seemed to peer harder into the tank as though trying to figure out what Nursey was pointed at, but then turned a glare on Nursey when he saw the lobster. 

“Oof.” Dex’s headbutt was slightly more forceful than usual, closer to a light shoulder check. 

“Ok. Ok. No more chirping.” Nursey held up his hands placatingly before dropping them back down, letting one rest on Dex’s head as he watched the animals in the tank. “Besides, you’re more like that guy, a cuddlefish.”

The headbutt from that was more like a head bump from a cat.

*~*

The aquarium made him overconfident. He was still riding the high of the cuddlefish head bump when they left and he was thinking romantical thoughts instead of practical ones. He’d promised no lifting off the ground, the the ferris wheel was out, but the sleighs on the carousel were definitely in. 

They settled in easily enough, cuddled right up against each other, Nursey grinning. Dex wasn’t even hesitant like he had been with the bumper cars or parachute jump. It was going to be great. 

It was… not great. Oh, it started out beautifully. Surrounded by smiling, laughing kids, the weird calliope music, his soulmate beside him. 

Apparently sheep could get motion sickness. That wasn’t covered in his soulmate app. Somehow, they managed to avoid Dex getting sick on the carousel, or on Nursey’s clothes, which he appreciated a ton. Sure, a good cleaner would get it out, but he’d always know those were the pants that Dex had been sick on as a sheep. 

Instead he could continue to think of them as the pants that he’d worn when he took his soulmate to Coney Island for the first time. Nursey rubbed his temples once Dex leaned against his leg and stopped making weird choking noises. He pulled out his phone to call the car around.

“Ok. So maybe we’ll come back when you’re human again. Don’t worry though, Dexterity. It’s chill. We’ll figure out how to change you back tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how Coney Island is set up, so if none of these are remotely near each other, pretend that they actually are in a world where people change into animals for a month after kissing their soulmate for the first time. 
> 
> Thanks for bearing with me during the hiatus. Hopefully I'll get this knocked out before I have any more big projects due.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw sexual harassment, threats of violence in defense, cut off racist comments, kink related chirps

Dex opened his mouth and leaned down over Nursey’s prone form, easing his teeth against Nursey’s neck ever so gently. He could feel the movement as Nursey swallowed and he closed his eyes, concentrating on biting but not biting. 

Finally, after what felt like minutes but he knew couldn’t have been more than ten seconds, the flash went off and he lifted his head. He shook himself and lay down while Nursey grabbed his phone and checked the photo. 

“Best one yet, Dexy. That was a chill idea.” Nursey smiled and turned the display to him. 

Dex snorted and lifted his nose. Trying to see screens was difficult at best with sheep eyes. He’d take Nursey’s word for it that the Vampire Sheep picture was great. It was definitely more fun to come up with pictures with Nursey instead of just trying to look scared or something. 

Still, it had been a bit nerve wracking to pull off. He might not have very sharp teeth, but he was pretty sure he had a stronger bite force, and the position put his horns closer than he liked. Nursey was good enough at hurting himself on his own, he didn’t need Dex to provide weapons. 

Nursey rolled out of bed and stretched. “We’re going to go out today. So, eat up.” Then he disappeared, leaving Dex to stare after him.

It had been a few days since the ill fated trip to Coney Island, but Dex was still pretty wary. So far, none of the excursions out had been much fun for someone stuck in the form of a sheep. Except Central Park, that had been pretty cool. It was definitely easier to be the horsey for a toddler when you were an actual quadruped. Still, Dex was trying to enjoy their outings. It was nice to see what was important to Nursey, what he wanted to share with Dex. Or, at least, what he wanted to share with his soulmate. Once Nursey realized that trying to figure Dex out was more trouble than he was worth, well, he probably wouldn’t even want to hang out with Dex anymore after Dex ruined his only chance at forming a soulbond. So he’d been trying to appreciate their outings; he just wished that he could be experiencing them as himself, instead.

“Ok, time to stop being a nudist sheep.” Nursey returned holding his plaid sheep tube and harness. “As much as I love having you naked in my bed, we’ve gotta get you transformed back before that’s actually fun.”

There was one significant benefit to being a sheep; he couldn’t blush.

Somehow, he managed to survive the getting ready process and the trip in the Nurse’s ridiculous car with the ridiculous driver. When they got out, he was looking at the front of the Stonewall Inn. He must have stood staring and blinking for too long, because Nursey leaned into his side.

“Stonewall. Site of the riot that kicked off the fight for LGBT rights.” Nursey rubbed the spot on Dex’s forehead between his horns as he continued. “And, of course, across the street is the gay liberation monument. A lot of historical gay sites on this street. Thought you might like it.”

Dex rolled his eyes, but made sure that Nursey couldn’t see. Contrary to what Nursey believed, Dex did actually know about gay history. One of the first things he’d done when he realized he was gay, years before, was to use the library computers to search for information. He’d exhausted the books in the library, while keeping a careful note of where they went so he could put them back, convinced that if someone saw them on the reshelving carts, then they’d know it was him. 

But Nursey seemed eager to show him the sites in person and tell him about the history. So, he followed along and leaned against Nursey’s leg and tried to look as interested as a sheep could. 

They’d nearly made it to the Lucille Lortel Theater on their tour of all the historic and interesting places, according to Nursey, when Nursey stopped suddenly, looking at one of the shops.

“Remind me to bring you back here after you change back. You’re probably getting used to the harness and we can get you one that’ll still fit at The Leather Man.” Nursey was looking at the window display as though that would tell him anything. Dex was pretty sure that it wouldn’t, since if this place was called The Leather Man, there was nothing in the display to indicate it. “They’ve also got like chaps and kink stuff. So, once we have that talk, I’ll know what to look for. But, yeah, probably best if you’re with me for that. Hey, wait, Dex!”

Dex ran down the sidewalk as fast as he could. Which wasn’t super fast. Not because he didn’t have speed as a sheep, he did. But there were a lot of people and there was a lot of trash piled up that hadn’t been picked up yet. Still, he made it past the Bleecker St crossing before Nursey caught up to him.

“Dex! Please stop!” Nursey’s hand snagged on Dex’s harness, so Dex slowed to a stop. Sure, he could keep going, but Nursey probably wouldn’t let go and just let himself be dragged. “I’m sorry. I’ll stop joking about sex stuff until you’re… you know, you again, and can at least chirp back.”

Dex glared at him for a moment and then turned to look away. He must have stood that way for awhile, because the next thing he knew, Nursey was tentatively stroking his forehead again and holding up a couple of bags. 

“Ok, I got some sheep treats from Wooftown, and also some Scandinavian candy from Sockerbit that I’m pretty sure isn’t poison for sheep, but I’d kind of rather save until you turn back.” Then softer, “hopefully soon.”

Dex looked up at Nursey to find him looking back earnestly and sighed. For all the chirping, Nursey was honestly trying to form the bond, even if Dex couldn’t figure out why he’d want to. Nearly anyone would be a better match for him, surely. Still, he pressed his head against Nursey’s leg and watched the smile break over his face. There was a large part of Dex that loved when Nursey smiled because of him. He wasn’t sure it had ever happened before he became a sheep.

“I was thinking, maybe we could hang out at a bar for a bit. A bunch of them along here have cool events most nights.” Nursey led him to what was probably simultaneously the most hipster and swanky bar on the street and Dex was glad that he wasn’t human because he’s pretty sure he would have commented. Not to mention the fact that he didn’t have a fake id to get in, though it seemed Nursey did. As a sheep, they didn’t even check, but then, he wasn’t going to be drinking anyway.

He should have foreseen it. They couldn’t even go to a spa without Nursey being hit on, so of course, one drink in at a gay bar and some asshole wearing a ten thousand dollar watch copped a feel on Nursey. Not just a light brush that could be explained away as an accident, he did a full smack, grab, and shake. Seriously, it was like no one paid attention to the fact that he was in the middle of a soulmate transformation period and his soulmate was right there. Or maybe they just all sensed that he could do better.

It was still really gratifying when Nursey spun around and pushed the guy away. “What tf? Jaysen? What are you doing?” Nursey crossed his arms and leaned away from the guy. The, admittedly, wicked hot guy. Dex would have even bet money that the perfect smile he was flashing was veneers or implants, bought and paid for perfection. 

“Derek, I was hoping to catch you out and about. Come on, a little quicky for old times’ sake? Or, here’s a thought, you can stop slumming it and go back to mine and we can pick up where we left off.” Jaysen was leaning into Nursey’s space and ignoring all the clear "no" signals that he was throwing.

Dex narrowed his eyes and pushed forward between them, positioning himself strategically.

“Is your little attack mutton threatening me, Derek? I’d heard he was low bred, but surely he’s not so stupid as to think he could get away with injuring someone of my caliber?”

“So you know that this is my soulmate and you still pull this shit? Why did I ever date you?” 

“Because you know that we are beautiful together. Call off your lamb.”

“I’m sure he’s not trying to threaten you. He’s not the type. He just wants to make sure that I have my personal space bubble and it’s not violated.”

Dex grunted. He was definitely threatening this jerk. In fact, he was trying to figure out if the angle was right where he could get one horn in the groin and one in the gut without wrenching his neck because having to pick a soft target was difficult. They were both so tempting.

“Then again, the first day he was a sheep he used those horns to fight off a pack of feral dogs that were attacking a flock that he’d just met, so I’m not sure what he’d do to defend me, his soulmate. Purely in defense, of course.” Nursey’s tone seemed to have a note of warning that Dex suspected was for him, so he eased off slightly, but not by much.

“Everyone knows that you’ve been hanging around with this… sheep for weeks now. Your time’s bound to be nearly up, clearly he doesn’t understand how far out of his league you are. But you and I, we’re a good match, we’re beautiful together. Ditch him already. You know I don’t even hold it against you that your mom is a-” Jaysen cut off and jumped back as Dex regurgitated some cud on his shoe. “What the fuck!”

Nursey laughed and patted Dex’s back. “Yeah. I’d much rather spend time with him as a sheep than you as a jackass. Come on Dex. I think we’re done here.”

Dex backed away slowly, keeping an eye on Jaysen to make sure he didn’t try to follow them or do anything. He didn’t trust rich boys for a reason; he wouldn’t put it past this jerk to start a fight and then tell the cops that he’d started it. He didn’t relax until they were back in the ridiculous car, and even then he didn’t fully relax until they were back in Nursey’s bed, cuddled up and falling asleep. 

The day hadn’t been too bad, all things considered. They hadn’t gotten the next part of the bond, but, he’d spent the day with Nursey, listening to him talk about things he was interested in, he’d gotten some treats, and he’d not only gotten to put a smarmy rich boy in his place, but Nursey had seemed to appreciate him doing so. He was drifting into his semi-doze state, fondly remembering how Nursey had said he preferred spending time with Dex when he heard Nursey’s sleepy voice.

“Even if I don’t figure it out and mess this all up, you’ll still be my friend, won’t you, Dex?”

Dex shifted to nuzzle closer. As if that was even a question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time is ticking away, I think they're nearly three weeks in at this point. Nursey's probably figured it out by now, right? right? 😬


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early update? Early update!

Nursey stared at his inbox and twisted his lips around in a grimace. He wasn’t sure what part of “It’d be mad chill if you got these to me ASAP” had been difficult for his teammates to understand, but apparently something had been. He’d sent the requests out over a week ago and only six replies had been sent back. The month was almost up, he’d just have to hope it was enough. 

“Hey, Dexy. Got some videos to watch.” He flopped onto his bed with the laptop and got the first one ready while Dex climbed up and got settled. “The team sent them for you.”

~*~

Lardo stared out from the screen, unmoving and silent until, finally, she blinked. “So, I’m supposed to talk about my feelings, say what you mean to me.” She paused for a long time, unmoving again. 

“The fact I’m even doing this should give you a clue. No one gets to know I have feelings. Even Shitty is only 28% sure that I like him at all.” She punctuated this statement with another long pause.

“You’re a good person. You listen, not just because I’m your manager, you actually listen to people around you and what they are feeling and you don’t make a big show out of your support. You freaked out when I didn’t have a replacement lined up, but honestly, I wasn’t worried because whoever it ended up being, you’d make sure they knew what they were doing and didn’t push anyone around.” Lardo finally moved, lifting a rubber ducky that Dex recognized from when he’d given it to her on her birthday, it had a tiny beret and a paint palette. “Duck bros for life.”

Dex ducked his head a bit and pressed against Nursey’s leg. Nursey reached over to press some keys and then another video started, this time with Jack’s chin and chest on the screen. 

“Is this, no wait.” The image moved and then refocused, centered on Jack’s face. “Right. Ok.”

Jack took a deep breath and seemed to center himself like he was doing a press conference before shaking a little bit and relaxing. “Dex, you remind me of myself in a lot of ways. We came to Samwell looking for something, something about ourselves. But we expected to find good hockey and maybe a starting point. We didn't expect to find a family, but we got one anyway. It took me....” He trailed off and shook his head with a small smile. “Almost too long to figure that out. It wasn't until my senior year, and even then, I didn't put it together until graduation. You're smarter than me though, so I expect you'll figure it out quicker. When the scouts start talking to you next year and the year after, I hope you'll consider the Falcs because I'd hate to play against family. Especially one as good as you.” He finished with another small smile as the image went dark. 

Dex wasn’t sure what to think. He was glad that he was a sheep, he couldn’t cry so he didn’t have to hide it. Not that it was exactly a secret that Jack had been one of his hero’s growing up, that he’d looked up to him more than almost anyone. So, it wouldn’t really be a surprise that it meant a lot to hear that from him. 

The image suddenly focused back in, this time on Tater. “Hello Dex, little d-man. I appreciate you bring me pie even if say cut off, first you bring many pie. Also, hear you bake pie too, like little B-“ 

“Tater, who are you talking to?” 

“Bye. Send pie.” The video cut sharply sideways before cutting off. 

Dex snorted. 

“Chill. I didn’t ask him for a video. Guess he heard Jack making his.” Nursey pulled up the next one and then rubbed around the base of Dex’s horns. It felt really good, so Dex leaned into it.

This time the screen focused in on Ransom. “Bro, I’m so glad you’re gonna be in the Haus next year. I mean, you’re not Canadian, but Maine will suffice. Can you imagine the rest of them the first time it snows?”

Nursey made an offended noise next to him but Dex bobbed his head in agreement with Ransom. The team was terrible in snow.

“And you’re mad responsible. I kind of feel like I’m leaving you in charge of a lot, because I know you can handle it. But listen, bro, listen. You gotta relax too. I know that I go coral reef and stress tears me up, but even before I put med school on pause, I made sure I put focus into kegsters and fun times with the boys. You don’t open up as easy, but you still got Chowder and Nursey, so, like, take your time to coral reef when you need to, but the Frogs, and all of us at Haus 2.0, pssh, the whole team, we got your back. You’re our brother. Oh shit, except for Nursey, that would be weird.” 

“I’d prefer if you didn’t think of me as a brother, yeah. That’d be chill.” Nursey closed out the video and pulled up the next. “Ok, next is Chowder. Probably should have started with him.”

Chowder’s giant smile appeared on the screen and Dex thought it looked different. 

“Chill! He got his braces off!” 

Dex squinted, trying to make his eyes focus better. He’d have to rewatch the videos when he was human again. If Nursey would forward them to him.

“Dex! What do you mean to me? Well, I mean, you're my best friend! You and Nursey. And it's so Swawesome that you guys are soulmates! Because that means you'll always be best friends and always be my best friends!” Chowder stopped and beamed before visibly focusing himself. 

“Ok ok. So. I appreciate that you ran me into Farmer. I know you didn't do it on purpose, but who knows when I would have met her if not for you. And you took that comp sci class with me our first term? You remember that. Oh man. I mean, I think you needed it for your major anyway? But like, I wasn't super sure on the whole east coast thing and if things would be the same and I know that you were weirded out about how different it was from your high school, but you stuck with me and reassured me. Did I ever thank you for that? Well, Thank you! And you loan me your flannel or jacket any time I'm cold. And you give like, the best hugs. People say I do, but that's because you don't give hugs to most people so they don't know. And, wow, I don't know, you're funny and smart and loyal and amazing and I just love you so much!”

Dex closed his eyes and rolled his head against Nursey’s leg. He wished that Chowder was there. Chowder made him feel better just by being in the same room. 

The screen changed to show Ford straightening her blouse and shoulders. “I haven't gotten to spend a ton of time with you yet, but you seem like the most normal one on the team. I mean, I'm used to dealing with theater types, so I'm not sure what that says about you. Side note, thanks for the help with the set in April. Lardo says that I can rely on your help. Technically, she said that you'll help anyway so I might as well rely on you. I got the feeling that it helps with your anxiety if you can double check things, and since I'm new, I guess it would make sense for you to be worried. But, yeah. I appreciate the fact that you're responsible. It's a rare quality. And, you know, it's ok to let your emotions out sometimes. Probably healthier. I'll teach you the stage manager yell when we get back to campus and we can have a stitch and bitch.” She flashed a smile and then the screen went dark.

The next video opened on Tango looking intently at something just off from the camera. “Is this…? Is it? Ok, yeah, it’s recording. Great.”

Tango stopped and flashed a smile. “So, Nursey asked me to make you a video? About what you mean to me and the team? I'm not sure why. You're Dex. You keep the Haus standing, I think you like it?” The question was punctuated with a head tilt and brow furrow before Tango nodded to himself.

“And comp sci is getting a bit harder, but you make time to study with me. You said that answering my questions makes you understand it better, but I don't know if you were just saying that. Sometimes people do that. It didn't seem like it though. I appreciate that. Also, I'm pretty sure you get my jokes, you laugh at them with me. Some people don't catch my sarcasm, which is ok. But. It's nice knowing someone gets it. You made me feel like I belong, you made it feel like a family.” He finished with another nod and smile, more certain this time.

Nursey moved the laptop off to the side and idly rubbed at Dex’s forehead and the base of his horns. “So, yeah. You’ve got a family with the team. A flock. And me too, obvs. I know it wasn’t everyone but some of the guys are probably just busy and I didn’t want to wait any longer.…” 

Nursey trailed off and Dex knew why, he was feeling the same warmth spreading through his chest. Nursey had shown him that he had a family, a home. That no matter what, he’d belong. The bond was all but formed. 

“I don’t…. Chill. Why are you still a sheep? I thought that was…” Nursey reached back over for his laptop and phone. “Did I miss a step?”

Dex pressed his head against Nursey’s leg and then stood up and climbed off the bed. He would go back later, probably sleep on the long neglected sheep area that Nursey’d had made for him. But for now, he just wanted to go into the bathroom and lay on the cold, hard marble tile. 

Because Jaysen was right. He was too lowborn to be here, too stupid to take the opportunity offered. Nursey deserved someone that would understand him. Not Jaysen, definitely. But not Dex. 

Dex laid his head on the tile and sighed.

The only thing stopping the soulbond now, was Dex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you need me, I'll be in the witness protection program.


	14. Chapter 14

Dex didn’t return to Nursey’s room that night. Instead he wandered the house, using the elevator to explore the floors, until finally he ended up in a tiny theater. He guessed it was probably a “media room” or something, but it was a movie theater with seating for about 20 people.

It seemed as good a place as any to stop for a bit, dark and unlikely to result in an unfortunate death. On one of the seats, he found a touch screen device that seemed to control the system. He nudged it with his nose until something started playing. Whatever came up would have to be what he listened to. Maybe with practice he could manage the dexterity to pick something specific, but he’d be human again in a couple of days anyway. He flopped down and let it run.

Dex didn’t bother trying to watch the black and white images, just listened along as Wuthering Heights played. It wasn’t exactly like he remembered the book from high school, but the basics were there. Rich girl in love with a poor boy, marries a rich boy anyway, poor boy goes off and gets rich, doesn’t fucking matter because he’s still the poor boy to everyone there, rich girl dies, formerly poor boy is an asshole to everyone including her. 

He let out a long sigh. Nursey could be Catherine, in love with a poor boy, maybe, but still better off marrying someone rich like him. Even if Dex somehow became a billionaire overnight, he still wouldn’t be seen as the same class as Nursey. He hadn’t grown up with it. He didn’t know how to be rich. He’d always be the poor boy playing pretend. He didn’t want to be Heathcliff, bitter and violent and thinking the world and Nursey owed him anything. 

The movie ended and Dex rolled his eyes over towards the touch pad. He couldn’t quite reach it from where he’d lain down. He didn’t really want to get up yet, but he didn’t want to be alone in the dark with his thoughts either.

Luckily, once the credits finished rolling, another movie started up immediately after. My Fair Lady. Dex could deal with that, it wasn’t his favorite, but he liked Audrey Hepburn. His ma was a huge fan, so he’d grown up watching her movies. So, he lay there and baaed along when she yelled “Come on, Dover, move your bloomin’ arse!” He felt like he understood her consternation, change everything about yourself to fit in, and then someone else takes credit for your hard work. 

“You see, Mrs. Higgins, apart from the things one can pick up, the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she is treated. I shall always be a common flower girl to Professor Higgins, because he always treats me like a common flower girl, and always will. But I know that I shall always be a lady to Colonel Pickering, because he always treats me like a lady, and always will.”

Dex tilted his head for a moment, ignoring the rest of the movie. He bobbed his head. He could learn, pick up such things as could be picked up. People like Jaysen would still always see him as a common lobsterman. But since when did the Jaysens of the world get to dictate his life?

He stood up and headed to the elevator. He tried to be quiet as he approached the bedroom; he’d been watching movies for nearly five hours and had been wandering for who knows how long before that and he didn’t want to disturb Nursey’s sleep. When he pushed through the door, though, Nursey was still sitting up in bed, staring bleary eyed at his laptop with a furrow in his brow.

Nursey looked up and smiled wanly. “Hey, Dexydo. I haven’t found much info. I’m sorry. I kinda bet everything on those videos and now there’s not enough time. I mean. I went ahead and got you some tickets for Billy Joel in a couple of days at The Garden. My dad knows him, so I was able to pull some strings. But that’ll be after the month’s up. You don’t, like, have to go with me. I just know you like him because of The Downeaster Alexa? And like, how chill he is with the baymen and stuff?” 

Nursey paused and ran a hand over his face before flopping down on his back. “I’m sorry. I just don’t know what to do. This is why you should have been the one that was human. You’d have figured it out no problem. Instead, you’re stuck with me and I’ve fucked it all up.”

Dex grunted. Nursey was wrong and it was suddenly extremely important that Nursey know this.

“You’re wrong.”

Nursey sat up and stared at him wide eyed. “You’re human.”

“You’re an idiot and you’re wrong.” Dex stopped and cleared his throat, giving himself a quick glance and relaxing a little when he saw that he was wearing the clothes that he’d been wearing when he transformed, less the flannel. “You’re the smartest person I know, so if you couldn’t figure it out, no one could. Besides the fact that you did everything right, I’m just a dumbass.”

Nursey scrambled across the bed and then strode across the room to stand in front of Dex, hands hovering and twitching. “You’re human.”

“Yeah, dumbass.” Dex smiled and reached out and grabbed his hand, using it to pull him closer. “I think you were interrupted a month ago?”

“Yeah. I was.” Nursey leaned in and finally finished the kiss, wrapping an arm around Dex’s waist and pulling him close. Dex let himself melt into it until Nursey pulled back to grin.

A few minutes, and many kisses, later, they lay together stretched out on the bed. “You never did see me as a common flower girl, did you?” 

“Uh, no?” Nursey tried to pull back and look at Dex.

“It’s nothing. Just. You know it wasn’t your fault the bond didn’t form after the videos. I was just worried that I’d end up a Heathcliff.”

“The cartoon cat?”

It was Dex’s turn to stare in confusion. “Is it ever the cartoon cat? You’re the literature person. Whatever, it doesn’t matter. I think I’m more of an Eliza Doolittle anyway.” He leaned back in and nuzzled against Nursey’s neck. “You’re still gonna go to see Billy Joel with me, right?”

“Sure, babe. Chill.”

“Swawesome.” The flash went off as Dex took a picture of them cuddled together and then pulled away to text the SMH group chat.

Dex: My hipster bf is taking me to see Billy Joel.

Nursey read it and arched a brow before typing on his own phone.

Nurse: I’m going to take him to Home Depot first though, I want to make sure he gets a chance to talk to the other dads before they all go to the concert.

Their phones both started alerting them to incoming messages as Dex dropped his head against Nursey’s chest. “I hate you. I really do.”

Nursey wrapped his arms back around Dex. “Whatever. You formed the bond. You love me.”

“God help me, I do. But I don’t have to be happy about it.” Dex heaved a sigh.

“Don’t have to be, no.”

“But I am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Approximately 5 weeks before this chapter, Johnson showed up at the Nurse residence and set up a list of movies to play when Dex nosed at the touch pad. There were probably more, getting more and more obvious, just in case. 
> 
> Thank you all for sticking with me through this. I hope you enjoyed sheep!Dex as much as I enjoyed writing it. <3 <3 <3

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr (for now?) at [SexyDexyNurse](https://sexydexynurse.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Yell at me there or in comments to make sure I keep working on this, yeah? I love this idea and it fills me with joy, but I gotta focus to finish it.


End file.
